Cryptocurrency Downtrend 'Breaks'... Ripple Rebounds 2.49%, Ether 4.86%

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

Cryptocurrencies, which experienced a sharp decline yesterday, have rebounded today due to bargain buying.
In particular, Ethereum rebounded by 4.86% and Ripple by 2.49%, respectively.
The indefinite postponement of cryptocurrency ETF approvals by the U.S. SEC was cited as a major cause for the plunge of altcoins.

Bitcoin records $118,640

Ethereum $3,726… up 4.86%

Cryptocurrencies, which had all sharply dropped the previous day, have halted their decline and rebounded. This is believed to be due to a surge in bargain buying following the excessive drop.

As of 6:30 a.m. on the 25th, on CoinMarketCap, a global cryptocurrency market tracking site, Bitcoin was up 0.72% from four hours earlier, trading at $118,640. Ethereum, the second largest by market capitalization, also surged 4.86% to $3,726. Ripple, in third place by market cap, rose 2.49% to $3.20.

The previous day, Ripple plunged over 14% at one point, falling below the $3 mark and dropping to $2.99. Around $200 million worth of altcoins (cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin) were liquidated, leading to a widespread sharp decline among altcoins due to a lack of liquidity.

A major factor in the plunge of altcoins was the U.S. financial authorities indefinitely postponing the approval of cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETF). The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which oversees securities in the U.S., indefinitely postponed the ETF conversion for ten cryptocurrency index funds submitted by Bitwise, a crypto exchange.

Bloomberg reported, "This is a major blow to digital asset supporters who were hoping for funds that could give easier access to more coins," and added, "It shows that the SEC is still not clear on its regulatory approach to new crypto products."

As a result, altcoins including Ripple tumbled across the board yesterday. However, today, with bargain buying coming in after the excessive drop, prices have succeeded in rebounding across the market.

Soobin Park, Hankyung.com Reporter waterbean@hankyung.com